Ruth Reichl'S Pumpkin Gratin Via Designmom.Com

1. 1

   The basics are pretty easy:

2. 2

   Hollow out a flat-bottomed food pumpkin (an important note, because if you use a Jack-o-Lantern pumpkin, as we once did purely by mistake, it's not delicious, not at all) and toast up a good baguette. Don't use whole wheat. I've tried it, it doesn't work as well.

3. 3

   Preheat your oven to 300 degrees and, while the oven warms up, layer the toast and cheese inside the pumpkin. Fill it all the way up to the top. There is no such thing as too much cheese! Or toast! Or cheesy pumpkin toast!

4. 4

   Now for the liquid, you can do as Ruth does and go for the heavy cream, or you can substitute as you see fit. We've found about a cup and a half of liquid does the job for one small pumpkin, and we use an even split between milk and chicken stock. Add a little salt, pepper, and nutmeg to the mix, and pour it over the cheese and bread.

5. 5

   Put the lid on the pumpkin and gently brush the pumpkin with a little oil. It helps it stay pretty when it bakes in a 350 degree oven for about 2 hours

6. 6

   As for cheeses, we do a mix of Emmental and Gruyere with a little brie layered in for fun, which gives it a rich, creamy depth the heavy cream never did. As you scoop the soup/gratin out, you pull the pumpkin flesh with it, and the whole thing is just sumptuous. We serve it with crispy fried sage and, when I really have my act together, candied bacon.

7. 7

   An equally delicious and more savory variation would be to use blue cheese in the place of brie and sourdough instead of baguette, and I can't help thinking that the crunch of pepitas would add a welcomed fanfare on top or maybe some pistachios

* Per serving · 4 servings · Values may vary.